Clothesline-fastener



A.-JOHNS 0N AND W. R. ANDERSON. CLOTHIESLINE FASTENERL APPLICATION FILED mac. 6. 1920.

1",381,311. fPatentedJune14,1921,

ALEXANDER JOHNSON AND WILLIAM R. ANDERSON, OF BA'I'AVIA, ILLINOIS.

CLOTHESLINE-FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 14, 1921.

Application filed December 6, 1920. Serial No. 428,532.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it, known that we, ALEXANDER JOHN- SON and WILLIAM R. ANDERSON; citizens of the United States, residing at Batavia, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothesline-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object the provision of, a simple, inexpensive and efiicient device whereby a clothes line may be securely held in a taut condition and may be readily slackened when it is desired to re move clothes therefrom. The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be hereinafter fully set forth.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of our improved clothes line fastener in operative position;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the same Fig. 3 is a view partly in end elevation and partly in vertical section;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the device;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken through the clamping members.

In carrying out our invention, we employ a supporting bracket which consists of a base plate 1 and spaced ears 2 projecting laterally therefrom, the base plate being provided adjacent its ends with openings through which fastening devices 3 may be inserted into the side of a building or a post to secure the bracket, as will be readily understood. Between the ears or lugs 2, we pivotally mount one end of a carrier 4 which is provided at the end remote from the pivotal point with a bearing arm 5spaced from the main portion of the carrier and disposed substantially parallel therewith, a pulley 6 being rotatably supported by and between the said arm and the main portion of the carrier. From the lower edge of the carrier 41 depends a hanger 7 and at the lower end of said hanger is pivotally mounted a clamping lever 8 having a cam 9 disposed upon one edge at its pivotal end and spaced from the clamping lever and arranged to cooperate therewith is a clamping jaw or abutment 10 which is pivotally mounted upon the said hanger, as shown, a lug or other form of stop 11 being provided upon the hanger above the said abutment or jaw 10 to receive impact of the extended tongue or lip 12 of the said jaw when a clothes line, indicated at 13, is run through the device.

In the use of the holder, the clothes line is secured at one end in any desired manner either permanently to a fixed support or removably in a holder similar to that shown and described and constituting our invention. The opposite end of the line is carried over the pulley 6 and downwardly between the free end of the arm 5 and the main portion of the carrier 4 and then between the jaw 10 and the clamping lever. The line is drawn taut and the free end permitted to depend below the jaw 10, after which the lever 8 is swung downwardly so that the cam or eccentric 9 thereon will be caused to bear forcibly upon the clothes line and bind the same against the jaw 10, the pressure exerted by the cam upon the line causing the jaw to swing toward the abutment or stop 11 which will arrest the said swinging movement of the jaw in such position that the clamping lever will be upon a dead center, as will be readily understood upon reference to the dotted lines in Fig. 2, and will thereby firmly hold the clothes line against accidental withdrawal. When the end of the line is drawn downwardly between the clamping lever and the jaw 10 with the lever in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2, the line will exert a pressure upon the lower end of the j aw 10 which will cause the same to swing to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2, and a bend or kink will be thereby formed in the line, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the operator will not be required to exert any considerable degree of strength in order to retain the clothes line in place while the clamping lever is being swung to the locking position and as the clamping lever assumes its looking position the lower end of the jaw 10 will be caused to project somewhat under the locking cam or eccentric so that the line cannot readily slip. WVhen it is desired to slacken the line, the locking lever may be easily swung upwardly and the line then permitted to slip over the pulley and past the clamping jaw to the extent desired. Our device is obviously simple in construction and not apt to get out of order. It may be produced and installed at a very low cost and will be foiuid highly efiicient for the purpose for which it is designed.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A clothes line holder comprising a bracket consisting of a base plate having vertically spaced ears projecting therefrom, a carrier pivoted at one end between said ears'for movement in a horizontal plane and provided at its free end with a bearing arm spaced from its main portion and forming a 10 rentrant angle therewith, a guide pulley' mounted in the space between the main portion of the carrier and the bearing arm, a hanger depending from the carrier, and line-clamping means on the hanger below the guide pulley.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures.

' ALEXANDER JOHNSON. [Ls] WILLIAM R. ANDERSON. [n A 

